Summer Session #3: Epic Paint, Day One

Was in the garage at 7:00 am! 

Setup the "shop" in the corner in front of the old trash chute, using the TV box to good effect.

First up was a full disassembly.  Dropped the engine, then used the bamboo pole resting on the jack stands to hold the bike while I removed the front end.  Then pulled the rear wheel and finally the swing arm and stand.

Worked the frame with 100 grit for most spots but switching to 80 grit especially for the areas that had the old masking tape on them (which turned out to be as hard to sand down as a bad rust spot).

Thought I would prime the frame using the single can of red primer, but immediately realized it's no good to prime something in the same color it already is - impossible to see what you're painting vs what's already there.

So started in with the white primer (everything Dupli-Color) with the frame upside down.  Went on smooth and no running.  After about 4 coats on the underside, I set the frame aside to dry for the recommended 30 mins.  Had also primed the battery cover.

In the meantime I had already lightly sanded down the brake stay, swing arm, stand, and chain cover.  Again, realized that trying to paint them an ever-so-slightly different shade of red was tricky because it was hard to see what you hit and what you missed.  Probably should have hit everything with a layer of white primer just to give it some contrast...  But anyway, finished the parts with 3 coats of Ford Red while the frame dried.

Had wanted to disassemble the front end, both so I could paint the steering head but also to swap out the fork springs.  But couldn't get the forks to budge an inch!  Decided to leave it for another day...

Set the parts aside to dry (paint needs 60 mins) and started priming the frame right side up.  Did another 3-4 coats and then set that aside to dry.

Decided the only way to really do this right was to leave everything overnight and resume again in the morning because it would take much to long to try to reassemble only to have to not only disassemble but then re-tape everything the next day.

Goal is to get the frame painted tomorrow and clear coat all the parts (short day due to musical theater performance).

Then clear coat the frame on Friday and finally reassemble.